LOST
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: A vast and terrible army has invaded America. Lost in the very worst dream of their lives, the team can no longer remember who they are to each other, or if this nightmare is even real.
1. Chapter 1

**A vast and terrible army has invaded America. **

**Lost in the very worst dream of their lives, the team can no longer remember who they are to each other, or if this nightmare is even real. **

**LOST**

1.  
~ Ariadne ran. The bitter cold in the air hurt her lungs as she sprinted out of the ally way and into the streets. She had never run so hard in her life as she could hear the shouts of her pursuers chase after her.

She could not be caught, her group, the rebels, were being hunted by the invaders and someone had sold them out. They had known right away that there was trouble that night. Entering Mr. Cobb's basement had felt different that evening. There was tension in the air and suspicion.

"There she is!" growled one of the invaders.

She chanced a look back and saw men in black riot gear chasing her. She ignored the pain in her lungs from the cold, the stitch in her side and the fear welling up inside her. She could not be caught. She would die first.

She turned into a cluttered alleyway full of trash. Garbage pick up was a thing of the past with the invasion. A stray cat runaway when she eased down the ally. Reaching a dead end.

She hit the wooden fence hard, lacking the time to slow down enough. Her hands climbing it with skill and ease as if she had done this all her life.

'_Must be adrenaline_.' she thought happily. Maybe she could outrun them. Maybe she could get away.

She heard the invaders reach the fence just as soon as she was over it. The snow on the ground giving a clear path to where she was running to. She needed to get to a place with a lot of people. A place she could hide in plain sight.

But with the curfew in place, the city streets were empty. What was once a crowded metropolitan area at all hours of the day, were now completely deserted. No one wanted to challenge the invaders when staying home was all they asked.

She stumbled out of another alleyway into another street. Hoping the confusing layout of the city would help her. It was a strange city, with narrow streets that cars could not drive down, more like a maze that an actual place.

The idea stuck in her mind and wiggled there uncomfortably.

'_More like a maze. A very, very good maze._' she thought. '_Full of places to hide and doors that don't go anywhere.'_

She searched each of the windows of apartments and store fronts. Almost all of them were dark. It wasn't so late at night, but people didn't want trouble from the invaders. A lighted window might provoke a raid. A raid meant trouble. It meant they came to your home, broke down your door, and you just… vanished.

No, no one could help her now. No one was willing to stick out their necks for a stupid girl who had been foolish enough to trust that they could overthrow their oppressors.

She wasn't watching where she was going and slipped on a patch of ice. Her legs comically going out from under her and she hit the ground so hard, she gave out a cry of humiliated frustration.

"Stop!" growled one of the invaders as a bright light was shone in her face.

She put her hands up, she was caught.

"You're under arrest!" growled the invader. She looked up at him from her position. Laying on her back in the snow. Her breathing hard and a cold gripping feeling like she couldn't run anymore.

'_It's not so bad just to give up._' she thought looking at these men in their riot gear. '_Just stop caring what happens to me._'

The man who had ordered her to stop was a high ranking invader. He had the distinctive crest of one of their leaders. They all wore riot gear helmets, so she couldn't see their faces. Only black clothing, and large guns.

"Stupid bitch!" growled an invader, slightly out of breath. "Make us chase you down so you're little friends get away!"

"Stop!" the leader shouted, but it was to late. The out of breath man hit her soundly in the knee cap, and her world exploded in pain.

She couldn't even catch her breath enough to cry out. Instead rolling into the fetal position, embracing her wounded knee. The pain wouldn't stop. It kept burrowing deeper and deeper into her body and she couldn't stop tears from flowing.

She couldn't breath, couldn't think. The pain radiated and encompassed all of her. It would never stop. She would always be in this much pain, till she died.

"LAWSON!" growled their leader.

"She won't run now!" her attacker laughed.

"Jeffery! Moore!" the lead invader barked. "Get the truck!"

"Truck won't fit, sir. Streets are too narrow." the voices of the other invaders sounded worried.

Ariadne finally found her voice, and screamed a shrill cry like a dying animal as their leader picked her up.

"Lawson, you're on the shit list when we gat back." she thought he heard him saying.

Her knee hurt so much and it didn't help that her body was being moved. Her legs were thrown over his arm, and the pain was so awful she couldn't stop sobbing.

"Get to the truck!" the man carrying her barked. "Bring it as close as you can."

"What are you doing, sir?" one of the men asked.  
"She's hurt, we're taking her to the hospital." he responded.  
"Sir, she's a rebel. Her group bombed one of our barracks. They poisoned the drinks in the officers mess." one of the men said.

"I know that, Lawson, I was there. We could have interrogated her if you hadn't broken her kneecap!" the man carrying her said.

Ariadne couldn't focus on what they were saying just now. She hurt too much. It was all too much. She would go to sleep. She wanted to pass out, but the pain was so intense, that she couldn't.

"Owe!" she yelped when she felt her body make contact with a wooden bench. The man carrying her had laid her down and was ordering the driver to take them to Rosewood. A hospital that had been taken over by the invaders and limited the people in the city to little better than home remedies.

In the four months since the invasion, there had been so many deaths, not just in the first few weeks of battle over the city, but in the neglect of it's oppressed. People went without medical care, without food and is caused the most delicate of them, the old and the sick, to waste away and die.

"We're gouging to get you help." the man was saying.

"Don't!" she cried as the truck lurched and drove down the isolated streets.

"It's okay." he was saying pulling off his gas mask.

Ariadne looked around her. She was in an Army truck. One of their own trucks was being used by these monsters. She was laying in the back with only this invader and his comrade.

"Don't touch me!" she cried as he was trying to examine her leg.

"I apologize for Lawson." he was saying as he brandished a large knife and cut open her pants at the knee.

"Stop!" she cried. Were they going to rape her? She was in such pain now, why would they do such a thing? Still, the invaders had proven themselves to be nothing more than sadists. Why wouldn't they take advantage of a severely wounded woman, have their fill of her then slit her throat, dump her body in the street. No one would punish them for it. Her death would be forgotten, her life, meaningless.

"No!' she cried.  
"I'm not going to hurt you." he was saying. "Jones, get me the first aide kit. The morphine."

She felt him take her arm, a cool, damp swap touch her skin.  
"Something for the pain." he was saying.

"Don't…" she stammered. "Please… don't hurt… don't hurt me."

She looked at her captor for the first time and saw his face. He was much younger than he sounded. His voice was deep, articulate and calm.

His hair was closely cropped to his head, and he looked at her with concern.

"I'm Arthur Castus." he said gently. "No one is going to hurt you. I promise."

Then, she left herself go. Let herself fall into dreams where nothing was real. Nothing could hurt you and she was safe.

~ Yuseff was powerless. He watched his friends, Ariadne, Arthur, Cobb and Eames sleeping in the front row in relaxing chairs. Hundreds of people were behind them, all of whom were sound asleep as well.

"Building on the idea of collective dreaming." the general was saying. "We can simulate any environment we wish. This one is giving us a lot of information on what would happen if an invading army were to take over an American city."

"Sir, suppressing their memories, is not a good idea. By now, they've forgotten they are even in a dream. That this simulation isn't real. They most likely won't even recognize each other anymore. They will think this simulation is the real world." Yuseff argued. "You didn't tell them that going in."

"We didn't tell our own people." The general shrugged as the two men looked out at the mass of people sleeping. All of them connected to one large device. White lines snaking down their arms as they dreamed of a ravaged city.  
"Why not? They deserve to know the danger." Yuseff asked.

"It makes for an untainted study." The general said. "See, we've already seen members of your own team split sides. Your Point Man, Arthur, has joined sides with the invading army. Most likely because he finds commonality with their very structured like rules. Don't feel bad, that's a good thing, and not unexpected based on his personality tests. Our top military officers have also joined the ranks in this simulation. It's the rebels, and the sheep we want to know more about."

"Sheep?" Yuseff questioned.  
"Yes, the ones who refused to fight back. Or who thought fighting back would get them killed. As you see, we have ordinary civilians here along with our own army personnel. Most of our army has joined the occupation force. We felt that would happen and we wanted to study how they would act. But it's the civilians who really show us more." the general said.

Yuseff sighed.

War games. How stupid was were war games. Real war, was never fun.

"You see, we like to think, because America was forged in revolution, that we are fighters. But this simulation proves opposite. When the invasion happened, there was fighting, but as soon as they realized they could die, or worse, have their food and electricity taken away from them, they quickly complied to the simple rules of their occupying army. They stay indoors, huddled in fear, and hope they get buy unnoticed."

The general gave a little smile.

"Now, we hoped there would be a bigger rebellion. But it seems that your Architect and Extractor have formed a small band of trouble makers. They squat in abandoned buildings and make small terror attacks on the enemy. Real 'Red Dawn' style stuff. We had hoped more civilians would take part, but they're too scared."

"What about Eames?" Yuseff asked.  
"Eames?" the General scoffed. "He's a ghost. Can't find him anywhere."

"Look, let my team out. They didn't sign up for this." Yuseff argued.

"Your extractor did. He's leader of the resistance. Your architect designed the city herself before joining the rebels. Your point man is a high ranking officer on the invaders side. You yourself designed the compound for this simulation. No, there is too much to learn from them. The simulation will go on." the general said with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ Ariadne woke up in her parent's apartment. Her brother Ryan was asleep in the day bed across from her. Snoring sounds from her old bedroom meant her ant and uncle were still asleep.

She peered out the from her covers and saw that daylight had tainted the living room where she now slept. She would have to get up soon and go to work. Not her old job, or any other normal job. The invaders had her family and her neighbors building walls, cleaning streets and doing repairs if they wanted food rations for the day.

There was no day off for any of them. The invaders didn't force them to haul bricks or dig, but if they wanted to eat that day, they had to work to help the army oppress them even more.

One of the first things to happen was resettlement and inventory.

When the shock of the invasion was over, when the last gang member, gun nut and stupid kid had stopped fighting back, there was immediate assimilation.

A calmness settled over the people as the streets were no quite. No more gun fire, no more bombing. The enemy was here now. For years they had tried to keep them at bay and now that it had happened, it wasn't so bad.

People still went hungry. People still went without medicine. People still lived in fear. At least now, they did all these things without stray bullets being fired or air raids.

Ariadne's family had survived the invasion more or less intact. Her older brother Max was lost in the fighting. But her parents, other brother, her aunt and uncle and cousin Samantha were still with her. Mostly because Ryan had been too young to fight back. He was skinny and small like his sister and too kind hearted to live in this harsh new world.

Ariadne felt her cousin stirring next to her and wished she had her own bed and room again.

They had been forced to relocate to her parents small apartment in the more congested part of the city. People were crammed into apartments too small to comfortably house so many. Ariadne was lucky she only had to share a bathroom with seven people. That their new home had two bedrooms and a full kitchen. They were lucky they were family because some people were forced to share an apartment with total strangers.

The reason for the relocation was simple, the invaders needed the more comfortable apartment buildings. They needed a place to stay while they occupied the city. So, a few days after all the end fighting, everyone that was left was required to go to the local high school, have their picture taken and information gathered. They were allowed only two suitcases and had one day to make the move.

Her aunt had cried over some invader touching her nice furniture in their old apartment. How some people just had their things thrown out windows. How the owners of those things had to clean them up off the street if they wanted to eat.

Ariadne closed her eyes. It was all so terribly unfair. She felt the familiar first of anxiety grip her stomach and she longed to talk to Cobb about what to do.

She had met her friend shortly after the invasion. He had been shot and she had hidden him. He had told her it took courage and if she was brave enough, she should join him.

She had been a part of the rebellion ever since.

She felt in control of her life when she was surrounded by people who wanted to overthrow their oppressors.

"Ariadne?" her mother called from the kitchen. "Are you awake?"

Ariadne groaned and longed for a day off. One where she could sleep in again. Wished she didn't have to seem men in uniform with guns on the streets she grew up in.  
"Get dressed. Make sure the kids are dressed. The hot water is out again." her mother said.

Ariadne let out a sigh and rolled out of bed.

"Samantha, get up." she told her ten year old cousin. She swatted her brother on the butt on her way to the kitchen.

She pulled her hair back into a pony tail and washed her face in the warm water her mother had set on the stove.

Her father was in the bathroom. A long parade of people needing to use the toilet before work.

It was just easier to do as much as they could outside the bathroom these days.

She washed as best she could. Wrapped her dark hair in a head scarf to keep it out of the way and put on the jumpsuit she had found for work.

It was so cold in the apartment, she had to keep moving as the rest of the family wandered around, zombie like, to get ready. No more school, no more dates or hanging out with friends. Work and home before sundown curfew. That was it.

The family would read or play card games at the kitchen table before bed, always with the black out shades drawn down so no one could see they had light.

They couldn't watch TV anymore because cable, internet, cell phones, and even radio were cut off. They received no mail and when the invaders wanted to announce something, a tank drove down the street, blaring news.

Usually it was lies about how they wanted peace and how if they all worked, they would have a good life.

Ariadne tired to ignore it, but it was so loud, she couldn't.

Samantha was the first to hear the sounds of feet on the stairs. The girl froze and looked at Ariadne with scared eyes.

Ariadne heard it to.  
"Ryan?" she called out to her brother when the door was broken open and men in riot gear streamed in.

She heard Samantha scream as she pulled the child closer.

"Ryan Bell?" a man with a gas mask covering his face demanded.

Ariadne could hear her mother screaming and crying as her brother was pinned to the floor, handcuffed and drug out.

"Where are you taking him!" demanded her mother. "What's happening?"  
"He's going to a resettlement farm." the man in black said.

The room was wild and tense with fear and hatred. Ryan didn't fight back. He was too young and frail to do so.  
"NO!" her mother screamed and then the very worst thing happened. The man in black pulled out his gun and shot the woman in the head.

Her father cried, her aunt and uncle cried, Samantha cried. Ariadne held her cousin tighter and didn't shed a tear.

~ Ariadne woke up in the hospital. The pain medication had made her dreams so vivid and real. She dreamed she really lived in a world where there was no invading army. No violence except on TV. A world where she was a student and she went to bed safe and happy, and never alone. Someone. A man, perhaps, he loved her. He had kissed her and she had been so happy.

She tried to remember this dream. It was such a good dream. But it faded away from her like mist.

"Colonel, she's awake." came a voice from above her.

Ariadne didn't want to open her eyes. She remembered everything. The meeting, running from those men in riot gear. She remembered being struck in the knee so hard she thought the pain might never end.

The pain. She had been in enormous pain before, but it didn't hurt now.

She tried to move her leg and was rewarded with a sharp bite that made her leave it alone.

"We had to put three pins in your leg. I wouldn't advise going for any cross country records anytime soon." a man in a white lab coat said and looked nervously at another man in the room.

Ariadne felt a cold fear rush in her body. An invader, his uniform showing the unmistakable black with red to offset all the darkness. His military rank was identified with silver along the arms. His uniform was well cut, and fitted him nicely in a world where most men she saw were in black riot gear, or in dirty clothing that was labored in. He would have looked dashing in the uniform; if he were not the enemy.

He scowled down at her as she trembled slightly.

"How do you feel?" he asked. His voice was familiar. Like something she used to know, but had forgotten.

She pursed her lips tightly shut. She wasn't going to answer.

"I'm Colonel Arthur Castus." he told her and she refused to look at him.

She looked around her room. She was in a hospital. One that was clean and nice, and not meant for civilians.

"I'm sorry my man hit you. He's not used to running. I've reprimanded him for his actions. He was upset your friends got away." the Colonel said.

She said nothing.

"You'll stay here till the doctor says you can leave." he said.

She looked out the window.  
"Can you tell me where Mr. Cobb is?" he asked.

She looked out the window and said nothing.

"We lost him chasing you." he said. "You sacrificed yourself to save him. Very nobel."

She turned her head and looked back at him.

"I don't know where Mr. Cobb is, but I'm glad he escaped." she said spitefully.

"Ah, she speaks. I thought this would be much more difficult." the Colonel said with a smile. It wasn't a creepy smile like she pictured someone in his position would have. It wasn't terribly smug or self serving. He seemed glad she was talking.

'_Shut up, fool. He might just be lying to you!'_ her mind roared. '_Don't say another word._'

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

At his words, her stomach perked up and clenched tightly. Reminding her she hadn't eaten in three days.

When she was still for any given amount of time, her hands would shake from hunger.

She said nothing and looked out her window.  
"I'll have have a tray sent up. They have pizza today." he said.

"How nice." she said. Her cheeks flushing hot with anger. "You have pizza while the rest of us have to labor twelve hours a day to get a loaf of bread, two cans of beans, and a pound of rice. That's what my whole family of seven got on a normal day."

She glared at him. Remembering all the nice foods she used to enjoy. Remembering cake and ice cream. Remembering chocolate and red meat. Remembered going to a nice restaurant with a faceless man and drinking champagne till she was dizzy.

The Colonel lowered his head slightly.

"I have no say in how rations are sent to the labor." tried to explain.  
"No, you just follow orders like the rest of them. You aren't responsible for the invasion. For my brother being take away to a labor camp when he turned fifteen. For your army shooting my mother in the head right in front of us. You aren't at fault for the denial of medicine and food. No, you're a high ranking officer, you have no say." she hissed.

She was sure he would kill her now. Her cheeks burned with the knowledge of what she had just done.  
Instead, the Colonel, who looked far too young to have such a rank, stood a little straiter and said.

"I've been charged with rounding up the resistance. Resistance fighters, like you and your friends, making life harder than necessary for your people. If you truly care about them, then help them by telling me where Mr. Cobb is."

Ariadne looked back at her wall. She wasn't going to fall for that. Once Cobb was found, the resistance would be over and everyone would be massacred with no one left to fight back.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ The drugs helped to keep her hunger at bay. She slept for a little while, enjoying the clean sheets of her hospital bed. The pain medications making it easier for her to slip in and out of sleep.

"Ariadne?" a voice broke her apart dream world. A world where she and a handsome, faceless man in a nice suit were eating dinner. They rode the elevator upstairs and he whispered he loved her.

She opened her eyes to see the evil colonel and stared at him dumb founded for a second.

"Arthur." he said. Putting his hand to his chest as though she didn't understand. He gave her a little bow. "Colonel Castus." he added.

She pulled her blankets up over her chest and looked around for help from the nursing staff.

Her door was open and they were at the nurses station, working quietly. She looked back up at her visitor.

"What… what do you want?" she asked.

"To bring you dinner." he said and moved a tray on wheels to her bed. She could already smell the tantalizing aroma of hot food.  
"I'm afraid hospital food hasn't changed much. Sorry it isn't something better." he said sadly and uncovered the plate to reveal a portion of pot-roast, green beans, potatoes and carrots. There was even corn bread and a little cake with chocolate frosting on a small plate next to it. A can of real soda and a glass of milk sat cold and ready to be drunk. Ariadne felt her head spin at the most beautiful sight in front of her.

Her hands were shaking as she had never been so hungry in all her life.

"Go ahead." he said and sat down in a chair next to her.

She looked back at him. It would be a betrayal to her mother and brother if she ate food from the enemy. But she was so hungry. She could hardly resist.

"It's not poison." he promised and she broke.

Forgetting all table manners, she stabbed the soft, stewed beef with her fork and started eating. She barely had time to taste it before swallowing and starting in on the side vegetables.

"Slow down." he warned her. "You'll make yourself sick. We can't have that."

She reasoned he was right and tried her best to time her meal.

'_Chew it. Swallow. Drink the milk slowly. Then have another small bite._' she told herself. '_It will last longer this way._'

She sensed the colonel was watching her eat and tried to shake off the unease that came with him.

She could feel his eyes on her as she ate, and finally looked back at him.

"What?" she challenged.

"Nothing. Just waiting till your finished so we can talk." he explained.

She wanted to say she wasn't going to talk, but didn't. If she did, he might take her food try away and she hadn't even touched her cake yet. Much less her soda.

She ate, and wished there was more. Her stomach had shrunken since the invasion and she could only hold so much now. Out of sheer stubbornness, she finished her cake and decided to keep her soda for later. She couldn't eat another bite just now.

"Good?" he asked her and she tried to make her face turn to stone.

"Ariadne Bell." He sighed and looked over a tablet computer.

She tensed and wondered what he was looking at. The invaders kept a file on her? Surely they kept one on everyone. Before the internet collapsed, her life was just as public as anyone else's. All they had to do was hack into her old Facebook account, or email to know all about her.

"Mother was Annie Bell, killed while brother Ryan Bell was taken in for relocation." he said sadly. His brow furrowing in a deep crease.

"By _your_ people." she said darkly and looked at her window.

"Father is Nathan Bell, arrested and sent for relocation. An aunt and uncle, both relocated. A cousin… relocated."

"A fancy word for death camp." she said.  
"Not a death camp. Work camp." he corrected.

She felt her freshly filled stomach want to throw up and had to fight to keep her meal.

"Your tactics are despicable." she whispered and a few tears escaped her eyes.

"Not my intention to be despicable." he said and closed his tablet. "I can see why a girl like you feels she has nothing left to lose."

She was shaking slightly.

"But you have plenty to lose. Your own life, for example." he said.  
"You wouldn't put pins in my leg and then kill me. I already told you I don't know where Cobb is. We all skatter when there's been a raid."

"But he will try to make contact with you soon." the Colonel reasoned.

She looked at him in shock.

"You're wasting your time. You might as well kill me now. Cobb will never fall for it. I won't help your people in anyway." she told him.

The colonel nodded.

"I'll have them release you. You may have trouble walking home. Also working for that matter. You have to share a dormitory with another family, right? can't be easy, relying on them to shelter you. I doubt they want to feed an extra mouth with you not being able to work." he said.

Ariadne felt her heart break slightly. Everything he had just said was true. How could she work with her knee so messed up? She could barely move, let alone walk or carry things.

She pursed her lips tighter.

"Ariadne, please help me here." he sighed.

She tried to will her body to turn to stone. Tried to keep her face her hands, even her breathing still. She tried not to blink, only stared at the wall in front of her. She was a stone statue, something that could not be talked to or reasoned with. She wouldn't hear anymore lies from this man.

~ Arthur left the invalid in her bed. After her slight meal, one which she looked to have needed, she refused to answer his questions.

Maybe she was right. Maybe it was despicable to bring up her family. He wasn't aware that Lewis was exporting people to work camps.

He asked the nurse to look after the prisoner. That if she requested more food, to give it to her. The Colonel grumbling a bit as the nurse made him sign a form to grant an extra ration for the prisoner.

What kind of a world was this when a small young woman like this was a prisoner?  
He left the hospital, into the brisk evening. Winter was settling over the city, and it pleased him to be in a place that was slowly yielding to the power of the Army. His native flag was draped over windows, indicating the people inside the building were friendly to him. He was surrounded by ten thousand men and women who were dedicated to taking this God forsaken city and eventually country, away from the gangland fighting, politically corrupt and drug addicts. Soon, all the undesirables would be eliminated and there would be peace. It was brutal, certainly, but progress is always difficult for the ones who have to change.

"Colonel." sand a deep voice behind him. Arthur had pulled his coat on a little tighter against the cold and turned to see who had called him.

"Hello, General." Arthur groaned. They saluted each other casually and the older man shook his hand.  
"I heard you captured one of the rebels. The same group that was making our lives a little more difficult than necessary." the General asked.  
"A young woman." Arthur said.

He didn't care for the General. The older man treated the occupation, the taking of a city and all the brutality involved like it was a game. He refused to elaborate on the subject of that poor, half starved girl.

"She's in the hospital?" the General asked.

"She sustained serious injures during her capture." Arthur explained.

The two men walking to the snow covered side walk. Only military were out after dark now. Sand bagged blockades cut off streets and kept the Army safe from insurgents.

"I see. So instead of using her injury to get information, you had her treated?" the General asked. "I want your opinion, Colonel. Are we here to heal the sick and feed the poor?"

"I was my understanding we're here to liberate the people from their own self destruction." Arthur said.

"Yes, by assimilating them into our own ranks. It's necessary to weed out all these rebels and other citizens we don't want in our new society." the General said.

"She has information on Mr. Cobb." Arthur explained.  
"Mr. Cobb is running out of places to hide and will be caught very soon. Even now, we're turning out the slums looking for him."

The General shook his head.

"It's positively filthy the way those people live. I went there once. Saw a family of five living into a two bedroom apartment." the older man shook his head.

"We put them there." Arthur pointed out.  
"Our troops needed the room." the General shrugged. "We don't want to stay in filth, do we?"

"Sir, I wasn't aware you gave the order to send older citizens to relocation." Arthur said.  
"It's just testing to see if they will be willing to accept the new regime. It's important to know what kind of job training they have. If we have a place for them in this new world."

"And if they don't? Have a place I mean?" Arthur asked.  
"They are not young people, Colonel." the General said lightly.

"Sir."

"We've also begun the training of young people in the city. Those under twenty, will be re-educated and soon, become established members of this new world. It's what we want, isn't it, Colonel?"

"Yes, sir." Arthur said. His insides twisted like he had a belly full of knots. "It's what we want."


	4. Chapter 4

4.

~ Ariadne was visited by terrible dreams that night. Not just the normal anxiety she always felt since the invasion, but something much older. Something much deeper. Like a river of cold water under frozen ice, it was there, if she could just chip away at it.

She dreamed of cities, rising and falling by her own will. The skins of buildings being stripped away in a terrible storm as all the world collapsed around her.

Then there was falling, falling and falling and never hitting the bottom. Of waking up underwater and someone taking her hands, helping her breath, escaping. Then rain, always rain.

A high gust of winter wind made the windows of her hospital room seem to shutter and she woke. The snow was trying to get in, and she was grateful she was safely indoors and not in the cold apartment she had to now share with total strangers.

She had been relocated four times after her mother was shot. Each time becoming worse. She was separated from her older relatives just a week later. Her younger cousin and her sent to women's dormitory that was little more that a high school gym with sleeping bags on the floor.

The living conditions were becoming worse until Samantha was selected for schooling. Ariadne came back to their little corner of the gym to find her only family was gone.

She was sent to her newest place with her old gym bag, containing her work jumper, her ration and ID cards, and only the essentials she needed to live day to day.

She had long ago abandoned things like photo albums and sentimental items. Too hard to keep track of, and there were thieves everywhere. She only kept her mother's wedding band, her father's watch, and a few valuable pictures neatly hidden in a copy of "Watership Down". A thing that had been a gift from her grandmother. It was a good book to read in times like these. It made her feel like she could have courage.

She wished she had her things with her now. She had apparently been stripped of everything, including jewelry when she went into surgery. She wondered if those animals had kept them. Why? The wedding band was almost worthless. As was the watch. She carried no money with her, and made certain that she had no papers in case she was caught. If her family was still alive, she didn't want them punished for her actions.

Alas, they had known who she was. Known everything about her.

Maybe this Colonel could help her. He had had given her food, spoken kindly to her. Had seen she receive medical treatment.

No. She couldn't trust them. They were still monsters who had killed her mother. Who had taken everything from her. She was homeless and with no one to go to. She had nothing.

Ariadne was enjoying her own self pity when her door opened and a nurse in white slipped in; shutting the door softly behind her. She didn't bother to turn on the lights, but was careful no one from the hall had seen her come in.

"Hello?" Ariadne croaked as the nurse was wearing the badges and rank of one of the invaders.

Was she there to interrogate her?

"Quite!" the nurse hissed and swiftly hurried over to her bed side.

"What?" Ariadne whispered.  
"You've no idea how long I've been looking for you." the nurse breathed as she leaned over her bed an stood too close.

Ariadne wasn't used to this overly familiar way and covered herself more securely with the blanket.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The nurse roller her eyes.

"Don't like my new look, eh?" she said. "Look at our reflection, over there, you can see us in the bathroom mirror.

Ariadne had no idea what she was talking about, but saw the bathroom mirror was angeles perfectly to catch a glimpse of them both. She saw herself, her face to thin and gaunt, she didn't recognize her own reflection. Sitting on the bed now, dressed in a tacky, mismatched suit, was a man.

She gasped and opened her mouth to scream.

"Don't do that, darling." he said and put his beefy hands over her mouth to silence her. The nurse in the invader's uniform had suddenly, and silently transformed into a man. It had been a perfectly seamless thing, one her eyes never caught.

She stared at him in shocked horror. Was he some kind of monster? Was she hallucinating? Was this just a trick done to her by her captors?  
"I'm going to take my hand away, You will not scream. Quite as a little mouse, right?" he asked in an English accent. A voice she found oddly familiar, even though she didn't know this man.

He took his hand away and she tried to move back. Her leg pain biting her.

"Do you remember me?" he asked in a whisper. His eyes intense as he searched her face.

She shook her head. Afraid to speak. She felt like ice as he sat there. A creature capable of changing his shape.

"My name is Eames." he whispered. "We work together. Do you remember that?"

"This can't be real." she cried.

"You're right, this isn't real." he said soothingly.

"You changed form! You were a nurse before. I'm going crazy!" she cried softly.

"You're not crazy." Eames hissed. "And keep your voice down. We don't want those bastards coming back. It's been hard enough keeping away from them. Even in your clever little maze."

"My maze?" she panted. Feeling a full on panic attack starting to brew.

"It will all make sense as soon as I can figure out how to get you out. You're too banged up just now to be moved."

He sighed.  
"I heard Arthur asking about Cobb. Have you seen him? Is Yuseff here?" he asked.  
"What? Cobb?" she hissed.

This man was another interrogator.  
"I'll never tell you!" she screamed and hit the man as hard as she could in the face.

It was like she couldn't hurt him. That slap didn't seem to phase him, but the noise did.

"Shut up! I'm trying to help you wake up!" he growled as there were now voices outside her door.

Before her eyes could adjust, he became the nurse again and stood.

At the same moment, three other nurses in the same uniform as her shape shifting visitor came in.  
"What's gong on here?" the older nurse demanded.  
"She's really a man!" Ariadne screamed. "She's a man!"

"Calm down." the nurse said as her strange Mr. Eames left. The other nurses giving her perplexed looks.

"The colonel has authorized you medications to help you relax. I'm going to give them to you now." the nurse said and waved at the other nurses to help.

"NO!" Ariadne shrieked. "He sat on my bed and changed into a man! In really cheap clothing!"

She felt hands on her, strong hands holding her down as the nurse pressed a sharp needle into her arm.

She tried to move away, but the pain in her leg made her cry out.

She slipped away from caring what happened to her then. Her body awake, but she no longer any feelings.

She lay back in bed and watched the snow fall.

~ "She had a mild panic attack. We see a lot of them since the invasion." the nurse explained to Arthur.

The Colonel looked past the grouchy head nurse to see the rebel sitting peacefully in bed.

"People just can't handle the stress sometimes." the nurse sighed.

"I see." Arthur said coldly.

"You know, I get off in an hour, maybe-"

"Excuse me." Arthur said quickly and left before she could finish.

It had become so common place, these hook ups with the army men and nurses. The other officers had their pick of women here. Even local girls, the ones under curfew, were not exempt from dating the invading army. It was an odd time for romance, but that was war.

Arthur wanted nothing to do with it. Women made things too complicated and he didn't want this nurse to be a complication. Someone who's name he would have to remember, who's feeling he had to be sensitive of. He had work to do.

Instead, he preferred to spend his nights alone reading. He would have plenty of time for a nice girl once the war was over. Not these easy girls who were just looking for a good time.

He knocked on the door to Ariadne's hospital room. She turned to look in his direction, barely took him in, and went back to watching the snowfall outside.

"Ariadne?" he asked and sat by her bed.

Her eyes looked glazed and hung over.

"How do you feel?" he asked.  
"I'm fine, Arthur." she breathed. The air leaving her body in one long exhale. She looked on the brink of falling asleep.  
"It's Colonel." he said and worried slightly if she might have overdosed.

"I saw Eames today." she said lazily.  
"Who's that? One of your rebel friends?" he asked hopefully.

She turned to him and grinned. Her eyes dancing in such a way his heart started to beat faster. The same way it did when he found her in the snow. She had slipped on some ice and fell. Her dark hair fanned out in the snow as she lay there helpless to the world. Like an angel, fallen from heaven.

"I've missed you." she whispered at last.

"I've only been gone a few hours." he whispered back. He felt awkward as she looked at him with more affection than he was used to.

She had taken his hand in hers. Her palm warm and he felt a surprising sense comfort. As though he was meant to hold her hand.

"Arthur, when this is over, can we take a little vacation? Maybe someplace warm? Like a beach or something?" she asked.

He almost laughed, but caught himself. She was obviously drugged, she might even think he was someone else. But no, she called him by his real name.  
"I'll take you anywhere you want. Just tell me where Cobb is." he whispered gently.

"I don't know." she told him. "I think Eames is looking for him to."

"Who's Eames?" he asked. He felt he was on the verge of finding this mystery out.

"Arthur, will you stay with me tonight?" she asked instead.  
"I…" he stammered and looked out the door. The nurse he had spoken to was at the nurse's station. She had a clear view into her room.  
"Not tonight." he said softly. "I have work."

"You always have work." she complained and rolled on her back. Her hair was in nice waves as she looked ready to fall asleep.  
"I know you love your work." she sighed.  
"I don't love it." he said feeling defensive. "It's necessary." he told her.

"I'm sleepy."

"Go to sleep. I'll stay here till you do." he promised.  
"I love you, Arthur." she told him.

He felt his heart beat a even faster. Her eyes were closed, her breathing deep.

"I…" he caught his breath and watched her sleep. His words lost for the moment.

**In case I can't post before the holiday, I hope everyone has a safe and happy one. I just found out my BFF of the past 20 years is expecting her first baby! I'm so excited! She wants to name it all these weird hillbilly names, though, gross. **


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~ Ariadne winced with the pain of having to walk on her newly healed knee.

"It hurts." she hissed to the nurse who helped her to the bathroom.

"I know, but we have to get you walking today. The General wants you discharged." the nurse said and pushed Ariadne hard in the small of the back.

Ariadne almost fell, but caught herself just in time.

The invaders hated her. Hated her kind. The people who were trapped in this city, suffering without proper food, homes or basic goods. Then acted like it was there fault they grew sick and were dirty all the time.

The nurse looked at Ariadne with disdain as she tried to right herself.

"You're lucky to have even gotten pins in." the nurse sighed. "Colonel Castus made sue you would be able to walk again."

Ariadne finally made it to the bathroom and, scowling back at the nurse, slammed the door shut.

What a relief it was to shower with pipping hot water. To use soap and shampoo like it wasn't made of gold. She wanted to live in the bathroom. It was warm and clean and she could actually forget the outside world.

She toweled the steam off the mirror and looked at her own reflection for a long time. At first, she hardly knew herself. The girl before the invasion had softer features. A face that was much more chubby and babyish.

Her mother used to call Ariadne's face cherub like. But there was nothing that anyone would recognize now. Her face was much thinner, and it didn't flatter her. Her eyes looked too large and she saw dark circles and worry lines forming.

Her hair looked thinner and when she relaxed her face, made it go neutral and normal, she wondered who this sad, angry woman was.

"Miss Bell?" came an intrusive knock on the door.

Ariadne jumped and clutched tightly the robe around her thin body. It was a man's voice that invaded her sanctuary. Her heart started to race as she was brought kicking and screaming to the real world again.  
"Yes… Yes?" she stammered.

"It's Colonel Castus. I was wondering if you you were ready to talk."

She had to think.

'_Colonel Castus? Who's he?_' she wondered.

Then memories of arguing with a man in uniform. Of him being an officer, but far too young for such a rank.  
"I'll be out in a second!" she said hotly. She raced to put on the clean clothes provided her by the staff. Grateful to have something, anything, new to wear.

~ Arthur checked his watch. Why did women take so long in the bathroom? It was maddening. They took forever, then, most of the time, come out looking almost the same.

He looked at his watch and tapped his foot angrily. His day wasn't going well.  
Already the general had lectured to him about Ariadne Bell. How it was not in their long term interest to be treating a hostile combatant to hospital care. That those resources could have been utilized elsewhere.

Arthur had wanted to argue with the man that Ariadne wasn't hostile. That she never hurt any of his men, only ran from them. There was no evidence to connect her to the poisonings, or other attacks.

He was ordered to release Miss Bell to be held for trial.

Arthur knew what that meant. Immediate private execution. She would disappear from all records. Her existence would not be missed by anyone. All personal effects, what was left of them, would be collected and she would be gone, as if she never was.

He was tapping his foot nervously. If she didn't give Cobb up, she would die. If she did give their leader up, she would die. That was the simple truth no matter how you looked at was no happy ending.

"I had the strangest dream." a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Arthur looked up to see Ariadne, combing her damp hair out with her fingers.

He felt almost happy to see her just them. Even with her unsightly limp.  
"This nurse came into my room and transformed into a man." she said sitting on her bed.

Arthur smoothed out his uniform a little and tried to look comfortable.  
"Miss Bell." he said at last.

"That wasn't even the strangest part." she went on. "I think I knew him."

"Ariadne."

"Isn't that odd?"

"Ariadne." he said more forcefully.

She looked back at him. Her eyes wide.  
"You need to tell me where Cobb is." he said at last. His voice shaking slightly. "I won't be able to help you otherwise."

"I don't know." she whispered. "But I'm sure he's here."

"Here? Here in the hospital?"  
"I don't know."

"In the city?"

"Yes. He can't get out of the city. No one can, it's just one big maze." she said.

Her eyes looked confused for a moment.

"Ariadne, they are going to kill you." Arthur said as she looked around her room. Her confusion growing as she took in the snow falling outside.

"They?" she asked.  
"My superiors." Arthur told her, shaking his head. What was wrong with her? "The ones who took your brother, who shot your mother."  
"Arthur, I think we have to find Mr. Eames." Ariadne said. It was as if she hadn't heard a word he said.  
"Are you listening to me?" he almost shouted. "You are in very real trouble."

"We both are." she said firmly. "Arthur, we have to leave here. Go someplace safe. NOW!"

Arthur stood and toward over this petite woman.  
"What?"

"We have to hide."

"What are you talking about?"

"We need to leave, hide until we can find Eames and Cobb."

"We?"

"Yes, we." she said stubbornly.

"What are you talking about? Are you giving up your friends?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"I just know we need to hide." she said softly.


End file.
